Bokurano: Ours is a manga created by Mohiro Kitoh. The Earth will be attacked fifteen times by a giant robot. The robot will be different each time. Fifteen junior high school kids are “tasked” to defend Earth by piloting a giant robot called Zearth.
The focus of Bokurano: Ours is not the robot fights. There will inevitably be robot fights in each volume but the fights do not take many pages to resolve. Bokurano: Ours focuses on the kids, their families and their friends. The scenes and storylines that take place in between the fights is what I really like about Bokurano: Ours.
The premise of this manga probably sounds a little pedestrian and unoriginal. I am pretty sure there are other stories that have a very similar premise. However, what sets Bokurano: Ours apart is an interesting twist revealed early in volume two. Volume one sets up the ground work for the series and foreshadows the secret that is revealed in the next volume. After the big reveal, the story becomes much more compelling and emotional.
The other thing I like about this series is the make up of the heroes. It is a mix of eight boys and seven girls. What I really like is that some of the kids are not very likeable. There is at least one guy who I call a bully and another who is mean spirited. There does not seem to be any stereotypes in the group.
The art is quite good. The art style is very appropriate for this series as it sets a mature tone from page one. The humans are not drawn in a cartoony way. The cityscapes have a lot of detail. The robots are very imaginative yet functional.
For more information about Bokurano: Ours, click here.
Each volume of Bokurano: Ours is $12.99 USD. You easily can find volume one and two in the Hamilton Public Library and the Toronto Public Library. There are three copies of both volumes in Hamilton. There are seven copies of volume one and eight copies of volume two in Toronto. There are no holds on either volume in both libraries.
I urge everyone to read the first two volumes of Bokurano: Ours before deciding whether to continue reading the subsequent volumes or dropping the series completely. Do not get scared away by the large cast of characters.
